Mary had a little lamb.......stew

Mary might have had a little lamb, but so did we and it was freakin delicious. We got this lamb from a Mexicali Valley based farmer; totally local for us, very organic and very tender. They brought it in on a Wednesday and turns out this is a very nice South African breed of lamb called Dorper. We cooked it on Saturday but should have hung in the walkin for at least 3 more days before we cooked it yet we wouldn´t have noticed a difference ....it was rich, tender and mouthwateringly exquisite. We decided to do a roast braise with this...so we started of in the woodfire oven and finished it of in a very simple tomatoes and guajillo sauce.

I started of with a wet rub
5 spings rose marry
15 loose leaves mint
5 garlic cloves
3 lemons
salt tt
pepper tt
2 cups olive oil

Juice the lemons and puree all the ingredients in a blender. With a brush rub the mixture all over the lamb inside and out and let marinate for about an hour. Place in a roasting pan and roast at 400 F for a couple of hours or until it starts browning on the out side...take out of the oven, set aside and let cool.

For the sauce
10 tomatoes halved
5 guajillo chilies, lightly toasted and placed in warm water for about an hour
1 large onion
1 cup red wine
Water as needed ( lamb is rich and gamey so a rich flavorfull stock might just get lost in the stew)

In a pot sautee the onions until lightly browned, add tomatoes chilies and water, stew for a few minutes until tomatoes are falling apart. Soon after, you want to put it all in a blender top open and cover with a dry rag, please, we dont want any accidents (this might delay or cancel your enjoyment of the dish, let alone cooking all together). Blend while still hot to get a smoother texture, and then pass through a colander or chinois. Place the sauce back in the pot and add the lamb cut into small pieces. Stew the lamb at low heat for 2 to 3 hours until PFT (Plastic Fork Tender). Correct seasonings and serve with raw red onions and cilantro leaves. Simply heartwarming and comforting. Enjoy.